Dark Nova
by dark-nova
Summary: The telling of a character's past: Project DUMAN. Happens in the Gurhal Star System. Read at own risk.
1. Clash

Clash

A crisp breeze blows with a ferocious power across the plains of golden wheat. Their rustling breaks the silence of the field; perhaps it was too quiet. After all, two individuals stared at each other, circling around as if driven by clockwork, only walked steadily, dirt softly crunching in their wake. Both seem rather tense, ready to jump at any given moment. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the shorter one, seemingly not much older than a kid based on height and appearance, stops his cautious stride. "Is it true?" he asks, with the intent with killing behind his voice; it was unusually calm. The wind blows again, and the taller one stops moving, stiff against the gale. Almost like he read the smaller one's mind, he replies with no hesitation.

"Yes." The interrogator looks down, as if defeated from the single word. But instead, his eyes roll up from looking downward, staring directly at the man. His hands open from the fists he was making. Tiny beads of light form around his palms, before materializing into what appears to be two metallic handles. In the blink of an eye, two beams of light extrude from the rims of the handles. Even quicker is this boy's movements. He leaps straight at the other one, who is approximately twenty feet away, in almost a second. Unexpectedly, the man leaps backward, as if he somehow knew this would happen. But even then, the boy is unrelenting in his ferocity. He brings one saber forward, searing at the foliage in front. Because the taller moved back in that instant, the boy then aims his front facing hand toward the ground and launches himself by making use of his upper body. Just two seconds after the start of the initial attack, he's directly above the man, both weapons drawn downward, forward from his body.

Again, the man predicts this movement and steps back again. "Hmph. Nothing unexpected from a novice like you," he says back. Now ready, he opens his hands and, like the kid, summons light particles around him. A fraction of a second later, a large sword is drawn and ready; a ghostly aura emits from the odachi. He swings the sword at the falling kid, who repositions the sabers to intercept the odachi. The force of the boy and his two weapons press onto the blade, spraying sparks all around the man, but it's not enough. With the weight of the great sword, the man effortlessly pushes the boy aside, letting him slam into the ground and sending dust everywhere.

It is not clear if the boy is defeated, but he is lying stiff on the ground. "Never overestimate yourself, kid..." the man says, almost to himself. As he begins to walk away, the kid slowly pushes himself off the ground, into a slightly weakened stance. He opens his mouth once again, slightly panting in the process. His armor protected him for the most part, but he's coughing some blood.

"Are...are you saying...that...to yourself?" the boy manages to spit out. The man stops in his tracks and stares back with tired eyes. Little does he know, he's a second too slow to guard the next attack from the kid. He does get his odachi up in time, but did not apply enough force to defend. As if possessed by a demon, the kid's pupils change from a dark grey to a fiery red.

"Wh- what the hell?" the man says to himself as he's launched backwards with little time to defend himself again. Even without the force of inertia, the kid somehow propels himself forward again, thrusting his sabers at the man, slashing faster than the eye can see. The older man's armor is protecting him from most of the damage, but it's wearing thin: even to the untrained eye, the photon patterns on his clothes starts to fade, meaning sustained damage.

The last thing that both child and man see is blood.


	2. Begin

Begin

Today is a special day, I think. Ever since I was 'discovered' in a plain on Parum, I've been waiting for this day. They say that I was found under mysterious circumstances, but apparently I cannot remember. Everything has been a blank, but surprisingly, I had the mental acuity of communication and basic logic after I was delivered to Holtes City. Unfortunately, I was unable to remember anything, even my name, but that's fine, I suppose...

As a worker for the Guardians, it was time that I start training myself in preparation for the war against the SEED. Even though I am only, as my discoverers say, 15 years of age, I was fairly strong in most of the tests designed for the Guardians. Not impressively strong, but the one thing that struck my testers was my incredible reflex.

Anyway, I'm starting to go off-tangent again. Today's an important day because I am assigned to a Guardians upperclassman for training. I have no idea how this will work, partially because I'm afraid that I will screw up somehow. It always feels like I'm at odds with the world but I have no choice. I can't let this strange alien life form get its way and ruin home. There's also my missing memory which I hope will recover soon, maybe while training. So to prepare, I stride over to the elevator from the front desk, and select the fourth floor. I make my way back home.

My home is a studio-sized apartment in the Holtes City Guardians branch building. It's cramped, but it'll do. The only thing is that it's extremely bare. I don't mean to put my discoverers in a bad light, but they pretty much left me to my devices, as some would say, after I was delivered to Holtes. Soon after I completed basic training regarding health, fitness, and intelligence, I was given a card key to one of the empty rooms in the building. Since I was declared 'normal' by those test standards, I was put into a job as a janitor-and-messenger hybrid of sorts. It didn't pay much, but it gave me a place and food to live, so it explains why my room is so empty.

I was lucky to have a storage at least. I prepared for this day by keeping almost every item that I got as a gift and the like. I withdraw a Saber and Shield from storage, both one-star in quality and C-rank in class. I don't think I could handle anything else, anyway. I equip my armor and make sure it's activated by checking the photon signatures on my clothes. Good, everything's ready.

Let the day begin.


	3. Training

Reawakening

The sudden scream from his student alerts the CAST 4E immediately. Not even seconds later, his student, the nameless one, collapses on the floor. The Polavohra notices this opening immediately and turned around, raising its legs at the same time. It was ready to crush the young Guardian without mercy. 4E zips toward the beast, ready to guard against the falling beast at any moment. However, things don't always go as planned...

4E did indeed guard against the beast...but for whom? To check on his student, he turns his head but sees nothing. "Hey...where are you?" he asks before letting the Polavohra fall down on nothing. His sensors do not detect anything besides the Polavohra and himself. He tries to analyze what happened, in which sequence. Still, he is left confounded. He stands to face the beast and finishes it, slicing it expertly with his Sangeyasha. Or at least, that's what he planned on doing...

"Muahaha..." a voice echoed throughout the ruins of the city. 4E's sensors activate upon hearing this, trying to see who said it and where, but before his analysis is complete, a being of darkness descends from the sky. 4E looks at this person, whoever it is, and does more checking.

'Can't see the body details...he's covered entirely in blackness, but he's approximately the same height as my student. Could it be him?' the CAST thinks to himself. Two great dark wings emit from the being's shoulder blades as he descends from above. The energy readings are all off the charts. 4E is wary of the situation.

"You there...the CAST with the stupid look on his face," the being said, "Thanks for helping me out...let me show you my real power!" 4E has analyzed the voice signature as matching his student...but can it really be him? There is a sense of malevolence whereas his student seemed innocent. 4E uploads a link to Guardians headquarters in hopes of contacting someone – and he is successful, but what surprises him most is that the team who discovered this child a couple of years ago is the one who connects.

But the being of darkness cannot sit still while 4E is sending information and analyzing it. It dives downward, first toward the Polavohra. With a saber of darkness as well, the being cleaves through the beast almost without resistance. 4E is surprised by this sudden outburst of energy...wait. He knows this pattern of energy! It's similar to the one of the SEED!

With the Polavohra gone, the being turns to face the CAST. "Hahaha...you're next!" With that, the being leaps straight at 4E with the saber drawn forward. The CAST realizes the direness of the situation and puts the link in the background. He switches his weapons to a Guld-Milla and charges the handguns. There was just a couple of Rp between the guns and the saber; 4E fires the charged shot straight onto the being.

Surprisingly, the hits connect directly onto the being's head, knocking him backward; the saber dissipates into thin air, and the being is collapsed on the floor. 4E lets out a sigh, as this fight was thankfully short; had that shot missed, he would've been dead.


	4. Reawakening

Training

Not even seconds after I activated my armor, I hear knocking on my door. "Coming!" I say in a loud but slightly hushed voice. I press the button to turn on the keypad and punch in my PIN. The door opens, and I stare outside, but don't see anyone.

"Ahem..." a voice says, just a few inches below my field of vision. I am taken aback. Is this my instructor?

"Oh...hello..." I meekly say, almost bewildered by this experience. Standing before me is a four-foot-tall CAST. He must have been the shortest one I've seen ever, and considering I live on Parum, this is quite the surprise. My expression must have shown this, because even though this particular CAST's face was cast in metal, I could feel he was not amused.

"You must be confused to as why someone like me would be knocking on your door," he begins. "Well, I am your Guardians instructor." By now, my eyes are fixed on the wall behind him. I don't know what to say. "Since you still seem confused, let me introduce myself. My name is..." By this time, I couldn't concentrate and didn't catch his name. "...but you can call me 4E." Four E? That's a simple name I could remember, I suppose. "You seem alert now," he continues after noticing that I looked at him. What a strange day, I think to myself.

After I introduced myself to my instructor, we begin walking out to the elevator and descending down to the lobby. We walked out of the building and continued past the bridge over the small artificial lake. Now, we walk up to the left to the Flyer Base. We aren't going to leave the planet as the plan says; we are simply visiting the site where the old Guardians colony collided with the now Old Rozenom City on this planet. It was only months ago when this collision happened but it left the four main governments in panic. And now, I train to be one of the many Guardians to prevent another large-scale disaster from happening again.

"Do you know how to equip your items?" 4E asks me as we scout the area where we landed. I nod my head and show him my Saber and Shield. "Good. Let us begin then." He runs ahead into the damaged city. I follow but do not know what to do. In the first 'block,' a giant enemy spawns. 4E arms himself with two swords, one large and one small, that look like Yohmei technology. As he rolls around the monster, he speaks, "This is a Polavohra. Don't engage it face on lest you take significant damage from its short charge! And roll when it raises its legs!" And just like that, the beast stands on its two hind legs, raising its upper torso as far as it can before dropping. I leap high enough that the shock wave doesn't damage me. "Good! Now attack it!" 4E switches to guarding, forming a cross with his two metal sabers.

Now I'm stumped. I wasn't ever taught attacking, only guarding. I think of a quick maneuver I could do and an idea comes to my mind. I jump to dodge another shock wave and dash behind it. With my shield pressed forward, I swing furiously at the Polavohra but it does little more than a few scratches. 4E sees what's wrong and throws me some sort of disc. "Quickly, use it and use its new-found power to aid your attacks!" I instinctively crush the disc, but it works! I feel its power infusing with my saber, but it gives me a splitting headache. I drop my weapons and clutch my head.

"AHHHHHHH!" I scream in agony. The last thing I see that day is red.


	5. Who is he?

Investigation

4E delivers the unconscious kid to the main Guardians laboratories and returns to his room on the colony. Upon arrival, he notices his partner machine tidying up his room. "Good day, 4E!" Light exclaims to her owner.

"Not quite a good day," 4E says as if he's heavily thinking. He takes out a packet of Shield Gum and hands a piece to Light, who delightfully takes it and starts chewing.

"What's...wrong?" Light tries to ask while making 4E's bed and chewing the gum.

4E lets out a sigh and begins to speak, "Student of mine. Changes into a malevolent, destructive being during training. Don't know why, the section of Guardians responsible for his rediscovery won't tell. Something's up, I tell you." Light's eyes change to a bright green, indicating a database search.

"4E, nothing about such occurrences in the past ten years, unfortunately, besides the article about your student."

4E shrugs and says nothing but looks up to the ceiling. 'What is that section of Guardians hiding?' he wonders. He gets up from the bed and walks over to the desk, typing into the database search.

Hours later, even after Light powered to sleep mode and slept on the cushion in the main room, 4E is busy typing repeatedly into the search engine. No results come up each time, but his curiosity grows with each empty returned result. Frustrated, he starts from the beginning again, except this time, something's different...

4E is surprised that now he notices the name of the Guardians section responsible for rediscovery. 'Project Redevelopment...' 4E thinks. With that name now in hand, he puts the name into the searcher and finds only one article about them, but one is better than none. Interestingly enough, the article is very brief; there is barely any information, but he thinks maybe there is more information if he uses his Guardians identification.

Moments after he's inserted his card into the slot next to the terminal, there is an overflow of articles regarding this section. Most of them are tabloid articles that are otherwise censored to the citizens-but-not-Guardians, but 4E reads about them anyway, hoping that there is information about them.

Surely enough, a very passionate article written by an infamous tabloid at the very bottom of the list is the one that catches 4E's eyes.

"Project Redevelopment to Ruin the Gurhal Planetary System!" the title reads. 4E continues reading, scrolling as needed.

"The Gurhal planetary system is going to be ruined! Project Redevelopment's information page has no information about itself! But what makes this suspicious is that this newly founded section of the Guardians is that there is literally no information about it whatsoever. All we citizens know is that a significant portion of the budget that keeps the Guardians Colony sitting in orbit disproportionately went into funding this mysterious organization. What could possibly be the Guardians be hiding, or who is the mastermind behind this group?" The article continues on using baseless claims, but the first paragraph strikes 4E as true. Even though the Guardians is a somewhat private security firm, it should still release critical information about who or what an upcoming organization is or does to its own people. Even if such 'pressure' to do so is only historical to give information based on previous organizations within the Guardians, there is an unspoken rule of introducing one's job to the public. But of course, this single section has been quiet for most of this time, only having 'spoken' during the rediscovery of that kid.

4E sits down on his bed and slowly reclines until his head rests on the bed itself. 'Hmm...what a precarious situation we've got on our hands.'


	6. Investigation

An Unexpected Decision

The next day, 4E heads to the labs to check his student but not take him training again. However, the three scientists believe otherwise. "How's my student fairing?" 4E asks them.

"Actually, he's doing spectacularly. It seems as if...he's grown some strength during that outing of yours," one remarks. "Please, take him out training again. It seems-"

"Whoa, hold on a minute there. You're expecting me to take him back out there when he's been in a coma? And also the fact that..." 4E looks around suspiciously, and whispers back, "...he's some sort of strange deity?"

"Hah. You seem to underestimate this child," another of the scientists retorts. "Don't be fooled by his appearance, and remember. If he goes rogue again, you can take him out...right?"

4E would have given him a dirty look if he could at this moment. 'Things don't look good. These three scientists want me to go back out there with him? Something's wrong,' 4E thinks. He walks past the scientists into the room with his student.

"Hey...uh..." 4E begins, to his student who appears to be still in a coma.

"Please. Call me...Nova," his student says back. 4E is surprised that Nova is doing fine, despite his unconsciousness just yesterday. He is also surprised that his student's chosen name is the same as his name.

"Okay...Nova...how are you feeling today?"  
>"I feel all right...just wondering how I wound up in a hospital is all. We were out in the field training when I felt excruciating pain and saw an overwhelming redness." 4E takes that as information and stores it in his databanks.<p>

"Well...unfortunately, we need to train today, as dictated by the scientists who discovered you. After all, they are my indirect superiors. So let's get ready."

"Yes, I'm aware...give me a couple of minutes to get dressed, then."

A couple of minutes later, they walk over to the terminal floor ready for departure. "Which place shall we go next?" Nova asks. 4E ponders for a moment, thinking of the easiest mission to do for a recovering human.

"Let's go to Neudaiz then." Both walk into the middle of the three entrances and onto the ship.

"Ship departing for Neudaiz, in approximately 10 minutes," the PA system echoes. A whole bunch of people start rushing into the boarding bay, barely not missing the ship. Teacher and student are separated for the duration of the trip.

Upon arrival, Nova asks, "Now, where do we go now?" 4E points to the next Flyer Base and Nova groans. Yet another ship ride, but alas, that's how travel is done.

Unexpectedly, 4E receives a transmission from Project Redevelopment during the flight. "Hello 4E. You have a special task assigned to you for today's training session."

"Okay..." 4E says warily. Something very strange will happen today, he can feel.

The scientist continues, "Do you have a pair of C-rank twin sabers that our little patient can use?" 4E nods slightly. "Good! Now, do you have a spare twin saber photon art? Like Assault Crush or what have you."

"Yes. Although I am curious as to why you are asking me to do this."

"This is none of your business but all of our business," one scientist says, with emphasis on the word 'all.'

4E is conflicted, but he knows that in order to stay in the Guardians, he must obey his superiors...at least until the time is right. Upon arrival in the training field, 4E hands Nova a capsule containing the twin sabers. "These look rather fragile, but actually they are pretty strong considering that they're low rank," 4E says to Nova who is dumbfounded by how to use them, a pair of fluorescent light tubes. "Let me show you how to use this type of weapon." 4E withdraws his Sangeyasha. He slashes outward from the bottom left corner of his view to the upper right. He waits until Nova notices that he should follow 4E's movements. Slowly, they go through the combo together until Nova remembers it. "Now that you know how to attack using the twin saber's basic movements, I am ordered to give you this..." 4E throws a disc over to Nova who lets it fall to the ground.

"There is no way I'm letting that disc near me!" Nova yells.

"I know you went through a lot of pain trying to use the previous one, but we have no choice." 4E initiates a communication link with Nova. "We're being watched, if you couldn't tell," 4E whispers in a digital voice. Nova can't help but look around, but can't see anything. Still, he reluctantly takes the disc and crushes it.

Not even a second later, Nova is brought to his knees, screaming in agony and dropping the weapons again. 4E prepares himself this time, knowing what might happen.


	7. An Unexpected Decision

"Who is he?"

The being's dark color starts to fade, revealing the student. 4E is somewhat surprised at this situation, having never seen this happen before. Meanwhile, he's uploading information and a direct feed of his vision to Guardians headquarters. "Who is he?" 4E finally asks. On the other side, his student's discoverers look at each other hesitantly before shrugging.

"Even we are not sure..." one of the scientists says hesitantly. Another interjects, "We discovered him only recently, and there haven't been many tests performed on him. We simply thought he was a victim in an attempted double-murder case, and was relatively normal compared to others like him." 4E processes this slowly, all while monitoring the teen. The nameless one seems out cold.

"How long was he found in a coma?" 4E questions again. The scientists have a somewhat definite answer this time.

"He was out from the time we discovered him up to a day later. His vital processes seemed normal at the time, and needed no regulation." 4E looks at his student again, who seems calmly asleep.

"And you say there were others like him? How so?"

"Ah-" one begins to say, but he is stopped by his peers. They gather around, whispering, while 4E wonders why such secrecy must be held. "That is classified information. Please do not ask us again," one of the three says.

"Very well...I'll deliver the boy to the labs for further analysis," 4E firmly states. With that, the link is closed and more mysteries have arisen.

Just who is this kid?

He picks up his student by the waist and carries him over on his shoulder, walking back to the ship to take them back to Holtes, and then the Guardians Colony. Never has this ever happened before, and this wasn't his first student. Stranger yet, there had never been news of other rediscovered children. What's really happening under the cloak of the Guardians?


	8. Dark Nova

Dark Nova

Quickly, a cloak of darkness envelops his student. It covers his entire body, and when the cloak reaches the head, his pupils turn a malevolent red, the color of blood. This new being stands up from his collapsed position and bears a deathly grin to 4E. "Hello again..." he says and points at the CAST. "It's a good day...for you to die!" Twin sabers of darkness suddenly appear in front of the being. It grabs both and turns to face 4E, or at least where 4E was.

4E's already quick on his feet, sprinting with the lightness of air around the dark being. "What have you done to my student?" 4E demands, all while expertly dodging the incoming twin sabers of darkness from above.

"Who is your student?" the deity questions back, all while chasing the CAST. 4E knows this will get him nowhere, so he contacts Project Development for assistance.

"Who is this being?" 4E almost shouts into the comm link. Malevolent laughter is heard on the receiving end. "I demand to know, before I report this organization to President Laia Martinez!" 4E hears another roar of laughter, but then one of the scientists says, "Try if you can...if you live!" With that, the comm link is shut down. Knowing that this fight won't end, 4E stands his guard instead of evading his possessed student. Instead, he opens another comm link to the central Lou system and successfully connects. 4E puts up his twin katana in a cross, with the tips pointed outward from his body to defend.

"Lou! I require assistance!" 4E shouts into the link.

"Guardian 4E4F564100, please send me your coordinates," the automated system replies in a monotone voice. 4E quickly sends information, all while preparing to guard against the rushing being. "What is it that you require assistance?" the system asks, but 4E could not respond.

In that instance, time seemed to freeze slowly, frame by frame. 4E could see the deity rushing faster and faster, with two blades aimed directly at him. At last, when the blades are within arm's reach of touching, 4E prepares his best to knock the two beams of energy out of the being's hands...but things don't always go as planned, do they?

4E's defensive push using the dull side of the blades failed. The being's swords phase through easily. 4E is shocked, and almost didn't know what to do in that second but punches the being in the face directly with his hand gripped with the Sange. The hit connects, surprisingly, but not without a toll; one of the energy swords pierces through 4E's body. Although not a humanoid, he knew the loss of sensation in one part of his body was a bad thing. With his possessed student down for a second, 4E runs diagnostics on his 'wound' and discovers that it would have been the end of his life had he not defended successfully.

The being slowly rises from lying on the ground and smiles deviously back at 4E. "I'm surprised you knew that would work...but let me pose you a question," it begins. "Are you ready to die for the cause of the Guardians, as your organization is called, or are you going to protect yourself?" 4E says nothing but stares back. "Because whether or not you'd like to know, one of us is going to perish...but only I will be the martyr, if you choose that position..."

"Who are you!" 4E responds in anger, ignoring what the being said.

"What a fool..." the being says back. "Then we shall fight! En garde!" The being takes no hesitation in its assault, but 4E is ready.

"Why are you fighting me?" the CAST demands of the pitch black being. It scoffs back, leaping directly at 4E, who in turn back flips out of the way and somersaulting to the side.

"Provided you entertain me for this moment before I kill you, I will tell you about my history..."


	9. Bloody Ancients

"Bloody Ancients"

"Long ago, in the time before governments of what you call the Gurhal planetary system even existed, before metal men, beastlings, and the advanced humans were created, and even before the what you call humans existed, there was a time of peace and technology flourishing in the great civilization known to your culture as the Ancients.

"Peace only existed because war finally ground to a halt, millennia after millennia of war-ravaged planets, resources, and peoples. There were too many conflicts occurring in these three planets, and destruction bloomed. But alas, in our final hour, a bright light shone through the heavens.

"His name was Kumhan the Sun King. He was a fierce leader who built a military government across the galaxy. He was also quite proud, and for that, I followed in his footsteps, for one day I would rise to be the next ruler. Our relationship grew and I became his right-hand man. Under his iron fist of rule, the whole galaxy – no, the whole universe – would bow to his might!

"Hahaha! And with that might, his followers, his men, my soldiers, crushed every opposition. Such bloodlust was great, having never felt it before...

"But something went horribly wrong. Amidst the three planets, a fourth planet covered in eyes of darkness, sprouted wings and dominated the lands.

"At first we took no notice; the universe's obedience was our desire, but too soon our empire came crashing down like the aeons of war and instability that reigned across the first few millennia of our existence.

"That overpowering alien life form was known as the SEED as called by your generation. Its power was twice as destructive as all the previous wars combined. It infected lands that were once arable to the point of poisoning inhabitants nearby. It changed biomes entirely. Icy lands became fiery hells. Plains became frozen wastelands. Worse yet, its effect on our peoples...

"...was infinitely more deathly! Death could not have been the worst choice for those infected, but alas, such option was not present for them. Slowly, the empire crumbled from the lack of soldiers. My men were transforming, one by one, into monstrous beings who killed others with no mercy. The SEED was so destructive that Kumhan ordered the sealing of this planet, Rykros, into deep space.

"Our Sun King eventually became infected despite the sealing process. He was perhaps the last to become touched by the SEED, while all his people were dead or their bodies underwent a mutation. Still, Kumhan had a plan.

"We would sacrifice one of his consorts, the one named Mika, and use her body as the template for future generations. Then, when the time was ripe, we would reap their bodies, minds and all, and use them for our own purposes. We would then rule the Gurhalian system once again."


	10. Fight to the Death

Fight to the Death

"Then why are you fighting?" 4E cries out, all while guarding against the dark being's furious attacks.

"Ha...haha...ha!" he laughs back and lunges directly toward the CAST. "I do so...for the sport. But I have another reason. Without the help of this so-called 'Project Redevelopment', I would have never been able to acquire a host as fine as this young boy." 4E is furious at this point. To think, this crazed bastard is in assistance with Project Redevelopment. 4E sends the direct video feed to the Lou central processing system, but does not know the consequence of doing so. Luckily, 4E's line were never hacked in the first place, so the signal makes its way without being stopped by the various firewalls in place.

With those words fresh on his mind, 4E changes to an offensive stance. "Well, I won't let you take my student's body for your own good! Go to hell!" He dodges to the left of the lunge, then spins around and delivers a flying kick to the being's face.

"Ha..." the being briefly says before spitting blood out, "Looks like you're ready. Then let us begin!" He turns to face 4E, but it's too late. 4E is already on the fast offensive, ready to strike with the tip of his outstretched Sange.

4E thinks briefly to himself, 'Sorry Nova. I can't let this fool take over the Gurhal system.' The being is not ready to die though, and extends his blades of darkness outward.

Unfortunately, 4E's attack falls too short; the two beams of pitch blackness pierce through the CAST's body again, this time dangerously close to the main processing unit. 4E's circuitry recognizes the damage and shuts down most of its functions, leaving the auxiliary systems running in emergency standby. He drops the two steel blades and collapses knees first onto the ground.

"Good...looks like you're in the right stance to be praying...for your future after this demise!" the being shouts, laughing afterward. "Since you aren't in any position to attack...let me tell you a little about what this project does...haha!

"Project Redevelopment is a strange entity, is it not?" the being says to the nearly dead CAST, picking up the fallen swords. He swings it around to get a feel for the weight and swings it dangerously close to the CAST's exterior. "Project Redevelopment is essentially the resurrection of the Ancients...but to test out the effectiveness of these new human hosts, a few extra parameters were added. One, you probably recognize that I exude the force of SEED, yes?" The being walks in a circle around the CAST, swinging the blade in hand.

"Now that this generation has somewhat perfected a vaccine for this disease, multitudes of people signed up for this miracle treatment lest they become infected." He pauses, briefly, before continuing. "But little do they know that under this treatment, they are prime to become hosts for the Ancients, like this boy, an orphan who was picked up as a 'guinea pig' for experimentation by Project Redevelopment. The method of invoking the Ancients was tough, though; to do so, the host must be forced or rage-induced. But when the host does so, whoever is inside the body is ready!"

The being stops and faces 4E, sword pointed at his forehead. "Ha...ha...and what a wonderful time I had killing people! All of them serious threats to Project Redevelopment, almost posed to release the secrets of this organization, they all died with fantastic results. And you? You're about to join them!" he shrieks in joy, plunging the sword into the face.


	11. Whwhat?

"Wh-what?"

That is what would have happened, but the instant the tip touched 4E's head, his inner photon meter activated. Beams of light from the sky drop, surrounding the CAST, forming a circle. In his metallic voice, he shouts, "Vivienne Fluge!" Metal wings, almost twice the size of the CAST for each, protrude from the CAST's shoulder blades. The beams of light from the sky stop, but the wings emit a great light that nearly blinds the dark being.

4E says nothing more, but stands, "wounds" now mostly healed and pieces of metal reforming on the pierced areas. 'Damn!' the being thinks but devilishly grins back at 4E, who picks up Yasha.

"You with the long sword, me with the short, we'll see who ends who!" 4E yells, lunging at the possessed Nova. Unrelenting in his assault, 4E pivots almost instantly when the being jumps back in a different direction.

The clanging of steel against steel rings out in the quiet Saguraki Conservatory District. Now, with the being on the defensive, there's nothing for him to do but wait for the inevitable time to strike back, but 4E doesn't give in. He doesn't stop expertly swinging, momentum carrying through his attacks. Unknown to where the CAST is pushing him, the being continues shuffling backwards.

Until, of course, he hits a wall in a cove. "Any last words?" 4E demands of the being, with Yasha pointed straight at him. The being only grins, and starts to open his mouth. In that instant, time seems to slowly pass, again. When things seem to speed back up, the being's eyes widen in a mixture of pain and horror. 4E plunges his blade into Nova's left shoulder and cleaves it downward; the arm falls down after it hangs for a moment. "I'm sorry, Nova...but this was the only way to end it."

The being falls face down, the blackness starting to vanish until it's just the head covered with black. "E-even if y-you kill me...there a-are a few...others...from Project D-duman...w-waiting here t-to...kill you. S-see you in-" With that, all signs of darkness vanish. 4E scans his student before crushing a Star Atomizer to heal him somewhat. It won't stop the profuse bleeding or heal the arm back again, but it will stop him from dying entirely. With that, 4E contacts the central Lou system again.

"Guardian 4E4F564100, you are under arrest for harming another Guardian."

"I accept whatever punishment the Guardians has in store, but please, send help. I do not wish to see my student die. Here are my coordinates."

Suddenly, beings leap out from hiding everywhere. Like his student, they are all covered in darkness, with eyes of red. 'Damn...I guess I'll have to do some clean up here...' 4E picks up the Sange from the ground and re-equips, but is too slow. A quick Jellen from one of the four individuals facing 4E hits him hard. Unable to swing his katana, he is forced to back up toward the wall. "I'm...I'm sorry," 4E says, closing his eyes. 'Oh boy, I've never done this before...hope it works!' With that, he depletes all his energy, including his auxiliary functions, and chants, "Espada Lluvia!" A circle forms on the ground around him, with lights from a satellite stationed above Neudaiz shooting downward. Suddenly, multiple swords of photon hang delicately downward towards the four individuals. In the blink of an eye, the swords rain downward, knocking them all down.

"I-I'm sorry..."


End file.
